Naruto Was Recorded in Front of a Live Studio Audience
by Grand Phoenix
Summary: [Or, What Troubles You, Haruno Sakura?][Studio!verse AU] After Naruto comes to a close, Hinata listens to what a frustrated Sakura has to say about a problem that refuses to let go and die.


Last week had been momentous. It wasn't every day an event such as this occurred, and this Hinata knew, as she went to grab her cup from the coffee machine. She blew on the liquid, sending errant ribbons of steam in full retreat, and took a sip, and from over the brim her gaze automatically drew to the unmarked date on the calendar.

November 10.

November 10 had been the day the last episode of _Naruto_ aired. The closing of the curtains on a juggernaut throughout the years. The end of an era.

Her days playing the role of Hyuuga Hinata were numbered, but although the tale was complete there was still more to tell. So said Sensei, but they were not yet needed to return to the studio just yet. Everyone involved up to the very end had worked so hard. There were bumps in the road and obstacles to go around, but they had managed. The studio had been a second home since the time they had clinched their roles in the auditions as children, and after so long they could finally relax and take it all in. They deserved it.

Sensei was proud. He was sad that the story had arrived at its natural conclusion, but nonetheless he was happy to have completed the journey, and Hinata was happy too.

A week had passed, and it was moments like these that it really started to sink in that there would be no more episodes of _Naruto_, no more chapters in its weekly serialization. There was still the movie and there was also the mini-series coming in the spring, but the story for the most part was over. Hyuuga Hinata's time had come and gone, and soon it would be the children of the heroes who would be front and center. There would be more stories to tell and to pass on, and Hinata was very eager to take part in them when they were ready.

_All good things must come to an end,_ she thought, and drank more from her cup. She heard the door to the break room swing open behind her, and there was a sigh.

"Oh, hey, Hinata," said the voice of Sakura. Hinata turned around to greet her only to pause and do a double-take. The girl's face looked long and frayed, as though she had weathered a great storm and its shadow was still upon her. Her shoulders sagged and the frown upon her lips was soft and sad. All this registered in the span of a heartbeat. "Is there more of that coffee?"

"Oh, hello, Sakura," said Hinata. "Yes, there's a full pitcher here. Be careful, it's still hot."

"Thanks," she said, and she went to the cabinets to withdraw a ceramic mug from the highest shelf. She took the pot, filled the mug to the brim, opened two packs of sugar and dumped its contents into the brew. She, too, took that first sip, but she did not blow on it and so immediately drew back, tasting the scalding sting of the heat upon her tongue. Once again, Sakura sighed.

"What's wrong, Sakura?" asked Hinata. She was beginning to grow concerned for her friend.

Sakura waved her hand over the top of the mug, banishing the steam of the coffee. "There's a lot wrong! I hadn't been on my laptop for the better part of the day, so after I finished up with Sensei about the upcoming mini-series the first thing I did was to go and check my e-mail."

In the back of Hinata's mind, a sense of premonition tingled, stirred and gazed out at the world through half-lidded, sleep-laden eyes. "What was it?"

Sakura's lips pulled back in a grimace, or perhaps a snarl, or maybe both, but her brow was furrowed close and the grip on the handle strong and white. "Hate mail! Hate mail from fans in the West, calling me a sell-out for having Haruno Sakura pair up with Sasuke's character! Calling Sensei a hack, a money-grubbing miser for pandering to the people that liked seeing Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata together! Saying that he ruined seven hundred manga chapters and many years' worth of episodes of character development, or that he was pressured by his editor to make those pairings canon!" She shook her head, disgusted. "Some of them included pictures of people throwing their merchandise in the trash, even coming up with fake interviews."

Hinata's eyes widened. She had heard inklings of displeasure ringing throughout the Internet, mixed reviews stating that the ending should not have been rushed or tied up the loose ends not mentioned at the cost of more pages and additional minutes. But most of all, she was aware of the great anger from the groups in the fandom that paired their favorite characters, some of who did so almost religiously.

Naruto and Hinata. Naruto and Sakura. Each vied for recognition and each fought to bring the other down, openly and verbally attacking across the written medium. In the end, one ship had won out over the other, and that was that.

"You would think," Sakura continued, "fans would have the maturity to accept it for what it is and move on. I mean, the story was never a shoujo. It's not something out of a Spanish novella, and it's definitely not something that was written straight out of _A Song of Ice and Fire_; and yet they make it seem that way! They come up with these stupid, farfetched theories so they can justify their denial, but none of that matters in the long run because _Naruto_ is Sensei's story! He's spent fifteen years of his life getting it to where it is now. If people are so uptight about their ships being sunk, then for goodness sake they should write about it to fit their headcanons; I'm fine with that, but they shouldn't harass Sensei and his assistants because they didn't get what they want. That's lower than low."

Then she started, as if she had woken from a long nap and realized she had overslept, and upon seeing Hinata's expression, flushed red, then laughed sheepishly. "Ah, I'm sorry, Hinata. I got carried away. You know, venting in the heat of the moment and all that." She averted her eyes. "Really, I'm sorry you had to hear that. It's just…been bugging me ever since, you know? Sensei told me to let it roll down my back but I just kept thinking about it…."

"He's right," Hinata said, breaking the tension between them. Seeing Sakura go off like that was nothing new, but she wasn't one to hold a grudge or ill-will for very long. This was unlike her, so unlike the girl she had spent the past few years on set growing up with, learning about each other, hanging out and enjoying that time. Contrary to popular belief and rumors perpetuated by tabloids, she was not Sakura's enemy but her friend. "Their devotion is strong, but unfortunately it's made them blind to reason, or maybe they refuse to see reason. There's nothing we can do about that; it's up to them to change."

"And if they don't then that's their problem," Sakura finished. "They'll get tired of it, eventually." She heaved a great sigh and straightened her posture, smiling much more confidently. "I think I can live with that."

"Sounds like a good idea," said Hinata, "but remember that not every shipper goes out of their way to antagonize or flaunt their victory to another group."

Sakura nodded. "I know." She snatched her forgotten coffee cup in both hands and boldly downed half its contents, pulling back with a sound that was a mix of a sputter and a sigh. When she recovered, she said, "I think…I think I'll stay clear of the media for a while. I don't want to have to go off on another tangent, especially in public. Nothing good will come of it."

"The media knows how to blow things out of proportion. I'd just ignore them."

"So I should!" Sakura drained the rest of the coffee and set the cup in the sink's tub to soak. She turned around, her face sober but relaxed. The air around her was lighter, sunnier, as if the rainclouds drowning her spirits had finally, after a long time, been lifted. "Thanks, Hinata, for listening. I…really needed that."

"It's no problem," said Hinata, and she too smiled. "I'm always here if you need someone to talk to."


End file.
